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Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri
| place_of_birth = Al Fahahil, Kuwait | date_of_death = | place_of_death = | detained_at = Guantanamo | id_number = 217 | group = | alias = Abdulaziz Sayer Owain al Shammari, Abd al Aziz Sayer Uwain al Shammeri, Abd al Aziz Sayir al Shamari | charge = No charge (held in extrajudicial detention) | penalty = | status = Repatriated | occupation = | spouse = | parents = | children = }} Abdulaziz Sayer Owain al Shammari is a Kuwaiti citizen formerly detained, without charge, at the United States Guantánamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.Unclassified dossier, from Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri's Combatant Status Review Tribunal His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 217. The Department of Defense reports that Al he was born on September 23, 1973, in Al Fahahil, Kuwait. Al Shammari was captured in Pakistan and was transferred to Kuwait on November 2, 2005. Inconsistent identification Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain al-Shammeri was identified inconsistently on official Department of Defense documents: *He was named Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri had his full unclassified dossier released through a Freedom of Information Act request. *He was named Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri was listed on the official list released on April 20, 2005. *He was named Abd Al Aziz Sayir Al Shamari was listed on the official list released on May 15, 2006. *The Department of Defense transliterates Al Shammeri's name nine different ways: : Combatant Status Review Tribunal s were held in a 3x5 trailer where the captive sat with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirrorInside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004 Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed. ]] Testimony Al Shammeri is notable because he is one of the few detainees whose dossier has been made public, and who participated in a question and answer session with the officers on his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. His dossier contained 14 pages of transcripts. *Al Shammeri welcomed his review, apparently because he welcomed the chance to explain that he was innocent of ties to terrorism. *Al Shammeri erroneously thought the Tribunal was a legal proceeding, and that he would be granted the presumption of innocence. *Al Shammeri acknowledged that he had traveled to Afghanistan. But he said that al Qaeda formed less than 1% of the people in Afghanistan. He pointed out that he traveled to Afghanistan before the American attack. *Al Shammeri said that he had traveled to Afghanistan on the invitation of an Afghani exile he met during a religious pilgrimage, (omra), to Mecca. He received this invitation because he had spent four years in Islamic Studies at the Iman Mohammed Bin Saud Islamic University. His invitation was for the purpose of offering religious training. *He said that after the fall of the Taliban every Arab had to flee, and became separated from his passport. *He claimed that he sought out the Pakistani authorities, hoping they could connect him with Kuwaiti consular officials, thus showing he was not a fugitive. *In answer to the third allegation he stated his name, said it was his only name—that he had no aliases. He said his name is a common one, and that many other people share it. *In response to a questions from the Tribunal President, Al Shammeri acknowledged joining the Kuwaiti Army in 1992, but denied that this implied any connection to terrorism. *One of the other Tribunal officers asked Al Shammeri to clarify how he got disconnected from his passport, and how he thought he could gain entry into Pakistan without it. He replied that he had routinely left his documents in his baggage, as no one in Afghanistan was ever interested in seeing it. He went on to say: :"...part of the Northern Alliance had entered the closest city to us. They started killing any Arab they saw and captured them, even if he wasn't a combatant...So, when I hear something like that, I don't think of going back and getting my passport, I just think of my life. :"Like I told you, I thought if I went to Pakistan, the would detain me for a while until they found out my country and then return me to my country. I didn't think they would tell me 'Since you don't have identification or a passport, that your means you are a follower of Usama Bin Laden.' *When questioned about the allegation that his name had been found on another al Qaeda suspect's hard drive, Al Shammeri reported that his interrogators had only recently began to ask him about his name being found on this hard drive. *One of the Tribunal officers asked Al Shammeri if he was, in fact, a lawyer. *Al Shammeri was told that, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, "...a reasonable person could infer that the conflict in Afghanistan was about to widen substantially." — Al Shammeri reminded the Tribunal that US spokesmen were predicting that it would take many months to be ready for an attack. Summary of Evidence memo A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri's Administrative Review Board, on 20 April 2005. The memo listed factors for and against his continued detention. The factors for and against continuing to detain Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006. Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri Administrative Review Board - pages 15-16 - April 20, 2005 The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Enemy Combatant Election Form According to the Enemy Combatant Election Form filled out by Al Shammeri's Assisting Military Officer Al Shammeri did not choose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing. detainees ARB|ARB_Transcript_Set_2_585-768.pdf#109}} Summarized transcript (.pdf) from Abd Al Aziz Sayer Uwain Al Shammeri's Administrative Review Board hearing - page 109 His Assisting Military Officer told his Board that the translator who accompanied him told him that he confirmed he spoke the same language as Al Shammeri. Unusually Al Shammeri's transcript does not record his Assisting Military Officer commenting on his demeanor. A one page memo was attached to his transcript, drafted by the translator who accompanied his Assisting Military Officer, recording that captive 217 had been reluctant to document experiencing torture or rough treatment. The Classified Record of Proceedings and basis of Administrative Review Board recommendation memo stated: : Captive 217's written statement was not included in the transcript, or published with it. Neither was the correspondence submitted on his behalf. Board recommendations In early September 2007 the Department of Defense released two heavily redacted memos, from his Board, to Gordon England, the Designated Civilian Official. The Board's recommendation was unanimous The Board's recommendation was redacted. England authorized his transfer on 24 June 2005. The assessment and recommendation memo stated: : Repatriation and Kuwaiti incarceration Al Shammeri was repatriated to Kuwait on November 4, 2005.Kuwaitis released from Guantanamo, BBC, November 4, 2005 Al Shammeri, and four other Kuwaitis released when he was, stood trial in a Kuwaiti court, and were acquitted of all charges. Kuwaiti court acquits ex-Guantanamo prisoners. Independent Online (South Africa), May 22, 2006 The Washington Post reported that the two main charges were that the detainees had helped fund Al Wafa, an Afghan charity with ties to Al Qaeda, and that they had fought alongside the Taliban. Further, the prosecution argued that the detainees actions had endangered Kuwait's political standing and its relations with friendly nations. The detainees' defense had argued that testimony secured in Guantanamo could not be used in Kuwaiti courts, because the detainees and interrogators hadn't signed them. Further, they had argued, the allegations the USA had directed at them weren't violations of Kuwaiti law. Al Shammeri's trial began in March 2006, and he was acquitted on July 22, 2006. Kuwait's Gitmo men acquitted - again, Kuwait Times, July 23, 2006 References Category:Living people Category:Kuwaiti extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:1973 births